At that time, An Jing and Xiao Changyi were already at home making dinner.
"Tomorrow I’ll go back to the mountains to continue clearing the land," Xiao Changyi said while sitting at the entrance to the stove, stuffing in firewood.
His goal was to clear two mu of mountain land, and so far, he had managed to cultivate one mu, leaving one more to go.
An Jing was adding water to the pot when she heard Xiao Changyi’s words and shook her head, "Don’t start clearing yet, first work on the yard. We have a large yard, and if you could clear several more vegetable plots, we could fence them with bamboo and create a big vegetable garden. We could plant more vegetables and possibly sell some in town."
The most important thing to remember was that digging in the yard didn’t require a plow—just a hoe.
Xiao Changyi understood her underlying meaning and felt a warm sensation inside. He nodded, "Mm."
As for the remaining mu of mountain land he intended to clear, that could wait. Having already cultivated one mu, there was no rush to clear another right away—the task could be postponed.
An Jing also favored the idea of postponing the work.
They would wait until they had bought a cow.
She was absolutely not going to let her husband plow the field like an ox again!
That evening, just like the previous nights, An Jing lay on top of Xiao Changyi, silently looking at the wound on his shoulder.
Xiao Changyi’s shoulder wound had scabbed over, which eased An Jing’s mind considerably.
Blinking, An Jing gently kissed each of Xiao Changyi’s shoulders.
A surge of emotion filled Xiao Changyi as he held An Jing’s hand tighter.
Every night, his wife had been watching over his shoulder wound, and he had grown accustomed to it, but this was the first time she had kissed his shoulder, even if it was only on the scab.
"Xianggong, the wound on your shoulder is healing well. It will be better once the scab comes off," An Jing said, lifting her head and speaking to him with a smile in her eyes.
"Xianggong, I’ve been thinking about how to make money these past few days, but I haven’t come up with any good ideas," said An Jing, her head drooping again, her chin resting on his chest, her mood somewhat downcast.
"What if... I go hunting?" Xiao Changyi asked hesitantly, his voice a little faint. She had taken down the hunting bow that was hanging on the wall the second day they were married and put it away.
Right in front of him.
It was clear she didn’t want him to go hunting.
An Jing immediately lifted her head again, glaring at him, "You are not allowed to go! It’s too dangerous in the mountains!" She wouldn’t let him go hunting in the deep mountains and risk danger unless they were truly desperate.
If she ever agreed to let him go into the deep mountains, she would definitely accompany him.
"Alright, I won’t go. Don’t be angry," Xiao Changyi hurried to appease her. This was also why he had never gone hunting in the mountains without telling her, because he knew it would make her angry.
And he didn’t want her to be angry.
"You’re not allowed to say that ever again!" An Jing was still glaring, insistent.
"Mm, I won’t," he replied.
Only then did An Jing stop glaring and rest her head back down, drawing circles with her finger over his heart without saying anything until sleepiness overcame her. Then she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Xiao Changyi watched the person lying on him fall asleep, his cool eyes reflecting a hint of complexity. Then he raised his hand to extinguish the oil lamp, held An Jing’s hand tighter, and closed his eyes as well.
The next day, before dawn, An Jing woke up. Once she was dressed, she sat on a stool and let Xiao Changyi comb her hair.
After many days of practice, and with An Jing willingly serving as a patient subject for Xiao Changyi’s experiments, he was now able to style her hair into a simple bun.